


The Ten Steps To Becoming A Slytherin

by orphan_account



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, albus and scorpius are gryffindor, also cliche where they have dream sex bcus otherwise its gonna be way too long, bcus im a cheesy shit, cheesy af, it'll improve i promise, like gay ones bcus I'm trash, no one knew why till now, rose is slytherin, rose reinventing herself with scorpius' help, sounds more dramatic than it is, there are gonna be more relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-05
Updated: 2016-03-18
Packaged: 2018-05-24 22:55:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6169957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose was placed in Slytherin for no reason anyone but the Sorting Hat can see, but in her seventh year Rose is determined to finally live up to her house's reputation. With the help of Scorpius Malfoy she might finally stop being the overlooked Weasley.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fic isn't betaed yet, so please tell me if there are any mistakes. This chapter is pretty cheesy so sorry about that, but I'm just trying to get the plot going, and scorpius might seem like a bit of a drama queen but forgive him he has stuff going on.

As usual Scorpius was spending his summer with Albus at the Burrow. He had nothing against his family home, but the Burrow was always full of people and not to mention Molly Weasley's cooking while his house was mostly empty despite its size. He's spent every summer here since second year and despite the familiarity of everything, from the honeysuckle scent in the garden to the quidditch matches that always ended in a draw because no one was keeping score (unless James got involved of course), this summer was different. 

Partly it was the countdown that seemed to loom over his head as he slowly realised that this would be his last summer here as a carefree Hogwarts student, and another part of it was the little things he couldn't stop noticing. Like how Hugo was finally good enough at quidditch to beat Al, or how Lily had stopped coming over to the Burrow and instead spent her summer at Shell Cottage. And of course there was the issue of his parents, but he wasn’t thinking about that.

Then there was Rose. He’d never really spoken to her, but there where countless times he’d had to stifle his laughter when listening to her talking to her cousins, and he was constantly impressed by her skills in quidditch despite the fact she wasn't in the Slytherin team. He also strangely enjoyed the evenings when he and Al would sleep in the treehouse and Rose would bring them hot chocolates before deciding to stay. Despite the fact they weren't friends she was still part of his summers. He didn't necessarily miss her, more that he wanted her there so his summer, his final summer, would be perfect. She'd gone to America with her parents, so that her mother could help with the House Elves Movement there, and would be back for the final week of summer. He was counting down the days till she came back and things were finally normal.

Except when Rose finally returned things didn't go back to normal. In fact it was the exact opposite.

§

Rose was happy. It was the summer between sixth and seventh year and puberty had finally hit her. She'd gone from a slightly podgy, chubby cheeked midget to a considerably less podgy 5"7 girl with actual cheekbones. And she now had boobs. Finally. That had been what first clued her in to the change, when her trusty a-cup bra no longer fit. In fact she'd now moved up to a c-cup. The second thing that had clued her in was the free drinks people kept offering to buy her, that might have had something to do with the fact her shorts and dresses were now all far too short, but Rose was still pleased-it saved her a lot of money. Her little transformation had inspired her somewhat, and although no plans had formed yet they were starting to.

When she was only an innocent little eleven year old she'd toddled up to sit on that stool in front of all of those students, her head filled with assurities she would be placed in Gryffindor or at the very least Ravenclaw.Then the hat had barely been placed on her head before it shouted out "SLYTHERIN". She wasn't the first Weasley to be placed in Slytherin, but sat their with her red pigtails dangling around her shocked, chubby cheeked face she hardly looked like she would fit in with her cunning housemates. For the first few weeks of term most people had avoided her thinking her innocent personality was an act, but slowly people began to realise she was as clueless to her house placement as them. Ever since then she had tended to hang around with Ravenclaws, choosing to focus on her studies with people who were far too blunt to care about most Slytherins manipulative ways. 

Now she wanted to change things. Try to live up to her house. Prove that she was more than her book smarts. Rose wasn't sure how exactly she was going to do that, but the appearance change at least gave her an easy head start in changing people's opinions of her.

§

The plan finally became real when she returned from America. Her entire extended family were at the Burrow to greet them including Scorpius Malfoy. As the only person there not related to her he was the one she looked at to see how he reacted to her change. She wasn't disappointed. He looked both shocked and strangely a bit angry which she supposed reassured her she hadn't imagined her transformation. It also gave her a slightly insane idea. 

Scorpius Malfoy was the king of changing people's ideas about him. When he got sorted into Gryffindor it had possibly been more surprising than Rose's sorting, and then when he'd befriended Albus Potter son of his father's school rival he'd yet again caused a stir. Since then he'd never ceased to shock people and had seemed to make it his mission to constantly make confusing decisions. He'd joined the Gryffindor quidditch team but refused the captaincy in favour of focusing on his prefect duties and then proceeded to spend his entire sixth year throwing parties that definitely broke more than a few rules. He dated more than his fair share of guys and girls but rumour had it he didn't sleep around. He never did what was expected of him, and Rose had found her self envying him for that. All she did was meet expectations. Therefore who better to teach her the ways of rebelling than Scorpius.

§

Scorpius had been completely thrown off by Rose's return, she wasn't supposed to be, well, attractive. She was supposed to be small, bookish, dependable Rose. He was fed up of the curveballs he was getting this summer and, like the rest of them, he was going to ignore this one. Rose was still Rose. At least that what he thought. Then, only a day after her return, she cornered him in a very un-Roseish way. He’d found himself stammering in a very un-Scorpiusish way.  
“Um, hey Rose” he’d said trying not to look at her. She’d narrowed her eyes at this seemingly determined to have his full attention.  
“Hey Scorpius, I was wondering if we could talk”, she’d then purposefully moved to block his exit. He eyed the door anyway, but curiosity got the better of him.  
“Sure”, he waited then finally really looking at her and now she looked uncertain. When he raised his eyebrows at her expectantly she let out a breath.  
“So, here’s the thing” she started, seeming unsure of exactly what to say,”I’m basically a Slytherin who should have been placed in pretty much any other house and you’re a Gryffindor who should probably have been put in Slytherin. I figure that because you’ve settled where you are well enough you could, I don't know, help me become a Slytherin I guess.” Rose finished looking more confused than when she’d started. Scorpius was pretty confused.  
“You think I belong in Slytherin?” he asked.  
“Well, yes” she said furrowing her brows, “you’ve got that whole cunning thing going on and no offence but I’m fairly sure you manipulate 90% of the people round you. I’m not saying you’re not brave or anything” she now seemed worried that she’d offended him. It was quite amusing.  
“I guess you could say those things are true, but the Hat knows what it’s doing.” Scorpius told her, “But now we’re getting off point. You wanted to become a Slytherin”  
“Yeah I did. I mean I do” She said nodding to herself.  
“And you wanted me to help you”  
“Yes. Please.”  
Scorpius looked at her for a moment, unsure of where to proceed with the conversation. Rose wanted to become more Slytherin. Well. He though about it, and it kind of made sense. She’d never fit in with her housemates and he knew most of them thought her to be a misplaced Ravenclaw. After six years of that he’d probably want to change that as well. What he didn't get was why she was asking him for help. They weren't friends and he didn't really have a reason to help her. For some reason, call it curiosity, he did want to help her. To see this new Rose come to being, and maybe a part of him just wanted to see Rose.  
“Ok”, he said finally,”I’ll help you, but you listen to me and you follow the rules”  
“There are rules?”, she said smiling.  
“Yes, very important rules.”, he told her mock sternly. “And a ten step plan.”  
“Ten easy steps to becoming a Slytherin”, she was grinning now.  
“Exactly.”, he was grinning as well now. “As I am apparently the Slytherin expert I will guide you through these steps.”  
“So expert, whats the first step?”, she asked him.  
He looked at her thinking.  
“Well, you’ve already done step one” he gestured to her, “Change your appearance. It’s the first step to any transformation.”  
She nodded to him, now seeming a bit shy.  
“What you need to do next is mix things up, don't do your normal things. Go to some parties, make new friends” he paused, “Maybe even a boyfriend”  
She looked a bit surprised at this.  
“A boyfriend?” she asked, “Why?”  
He was nodding now, certain this was what she needed.  
“You’ve never had a boyfriend, right?” he didn't wait for her answer, already knowing it, “So get yourself a Slytherin boyfriend. That'll cause enough of a stir that you can plan your next move out properly”  
She was still looking uncertain, and he was about to tell her that of course she didn't have to if it made her uncomfortable when she blurted out “But how the hell do I find a Slytherin to date”  
Scorpius laughed. He couldn't help himself. Rose glared at him.  
“Rose, I’m sure we can find you a Slytherin to date.”  
“But, well, isn't it kind of mean. You know to date someone just for the attention. And I’m sure they'll notice something is up, Slytherins are good at that.”  
He thought about that, she was right. Rose wasn't great at hiding what she was thinking and he would bet most Slytherins would see straight through that.  
“What if you just dated someone else from a different house, someone that would still be shocking but someone who wont see through you as easily” He said, his brain racking through their year thinking who could work. Then he realised Rose was staring at him.  
“What?”, he asked her shifting uncomfortably.  
“I think I know who would work” she said slowly.  
He looked at her expectantly waiting for her to tell him.  
“Well, who?” he questioned her impatiently. She looked at him and bit her lip before finally opening her mouth.  
“You”


	2. Chapter 2

Scorpius stared at Rose in shock, his mouth hanging slightly open and his eyes wide. He’d just begun to feel in control of the situation and now, well now he had no idea what to say.  
“Me? You want me to be-to be-your boyfriend!” He stuttered. Rose rolled her eyes.  
“No, I don’t want you to be my boyfriend, you idiot, I want you to be my fake boyfriend.” She said exasperatedly. Scorpius was still looking at her as if she’d grown a second head.  
“But why me? There are plenty of other options I’m sure, and your cousins would kill me, no your Dad would kill me. Then my Dad would have to kill your Dad for, you know, honour and then it would be this whole big mess.” Scorpius had no idea what was wrong with him, this new attractive Rose was asking him to date her, well fake date her, and he had turned into a spluttering fool. Rose was looking at him with amusement, as if the idea of their two families battling to the death for honour was entertaining for her.  
“Scorpius no one will kill anyone, and come on you’re definitely the best, and maybe only, option.” Before Scorpius could protest more she carried on in the famous Rose Weasley way, “You’re already aware it’ll be fake dating so no ones feelings are going to get hurt, and we wont have to carry on the act in private. We already hang out a bit because of Al, so it’s believable, and we can tell Al that its fake so he can help us. You can do whatever with other girls as long as you're discreet, so really I can’t see any problems.”   
Scorpius was silent for a moment as he ran through Rose’s argument in his head. He finally realised why Rose was always winning arguments-she simply overwhelmed you with points so you had no choice but to agree. Once he thought about it for a moment, despite his initial reaction, it made sense. He chewed his lip still hesitating, he wasn’t sure what was stopping him from immediately agreeing to probably his only chance at pissing of James Potter and spending time with Rose at the same time. Scorpius was drawn out of his thoughts by Rose prodding him in the side.   
“So?” she asked him, “Are we doing this or not?”  
It took him barely a second to make the decision.   
“Yes,” he nodded, more to himself than Rose, “We’re doing this. You and I are going to pretend to date.”  
That felt like a monumental moment for him, but Rose was already moving on.  
“Ok great, thanks by the way. I’m thinking we just go back to school as ‘girlfriend and boyfriend’” she looked at him for conformation, and he’d barely nodded before she carried on, “that way we can say we got together about now. If people ask we can tell them you just missed me so much over summer you confessed your feelings when I got back” she laughed at that.  
Scorpius scratched the back of his neck laughing awkwardly, feeling uncomfortable at how close she had come to the truth. He coughed to cover up his too fake laugh.  
“Um, yeah, sounds like a plan.” He replied when she looked at him expectantly.  
“Good, so I think we should probably tell Al before we go back to school, because he’s going to figure it out anyway and we could definitely use his help.”  
“Sure, I’ll do that, it’d probably be less awkward that way.” He said still slightly dazed.  
“Thanks. I’m going to go then otherwise the others will think somethings going on.” She hesitated for a second tilting her head, “Although that’s probably not such a bad thing.”  
Scorpius panicked for a second, really not ready for anyone to think they were together yet. When Rose laughed before walking back to the house with a wave he let out a sigh of relief wondering what he’d gotten himself in to. 

§

Scorpius meant to tell Albus, he really did. He’d opened his mouth ready to blurt out his and Rose’s insane plan, but each time something had distracted him, or someone else had walked into the room, or sometimes he’d just chickened out. Now they were on the train back to Hogwarts and Albus had no idea that in approximately half an hour his best friend and favourite cousin would be an official item. Despite the fact he knew Albus would be ten times as cross if he had to find out through the Hogwarts’ rumour mill Scorpius couldn't bring himself to tell him. Telling Al would make it real, and, even though Rose and him had spent hours planning throughout this past week, it didn’t feel like something they were actually going to do. He looked at Rose sitting opposite him. Soon he would be holding that hand, putting his arm around that waist, and maybe even kissing those lips.   
“We should probably get changed soon Scorp.” Albus said, drawing him out of his thoughts.  
“Yeah, just give me a second.” Scorpius replied, putting away the book he’d been pretending to read for most of the journey. As he stood up Rose sent him a dazzling smile that momentarily confused him before he remembered their plan to ease people into their relationship with little gestures. He smiled back, not quite as dazzling. He needed to pull himself together.

§

Rose looked up as Scorpius and Albus headed out of the compartment sending Scorpius a quick smile that he returned after a moments hesitation. He’d been a bit odd ever since they’d made their plan and it was making her worried. Did he want to back out? The more she had thought about it the more she’d decided that dating him was the thing she needed for people to start looking at her differently, but she didn’t want to force him into it.   
Her leg bounced with nervous anticipation. They still needed to talk before they got to school to finalise their plans. She wasn’t sure if they should tell people or just act like they were dating or wait for people to ask. Her leg bounced faster. Would people believe they were dating, shy little Rose Weasley and popular and confident Scorpius Malfoy? Would it be obvious it was a fake relationship? She felt a hand on her leg and she looked up. Her friend Morag was looking at her with her eyebrow raised.  
“Rose I’ve been getting tense vibes off you since we sat down, what’s up?” she asked her.  
“Nothing, well not nothing. I mean it’s not a big deal, well it kind of is.” Rose rambled, “You might not think so, actually you probably will. Like is dating Scorpius Malfoy really a big deal? Plenty of people date-”   
“Wait Rose. You’re dating Scorpius?” Moral was looking at her absolutely shocked. When Rose looked around, everyone else in the compartment had similar expressions on their faces.  
Well. Shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So from now on I'll try to update once a week, maybe more if I have time. Sorry that it's so short but if I carry on I won't stop.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so introducing some new people, don't worry about remembering names.

Rose looked around the carriage, cursing inside. Why couldn't she just keep her stupid mouth shut and stop babbling? At least it solved the problem of how her and Scorpius where going to break the news to people. She attempted to smile at the others who were still waiting for an answer. Here goes nothing.  
“Um yeah I guess we’re kind of going out.” She told the carriage. There was a pause and then everyone started talking at once.  
“Since when?”  
“Why am I not aware of this?”  
“You and Scorpius, but, what?”  
“How on Earth did this happen?”  
Rose blinked unsure if she should actually answer the questions. Morag seemed to notice Rose’s deer in the headlights look and took pity.  
“Shut up guys!” She shouted, then then turned to Rose “Go on then, tell us how the Hell you and Scorpius started dating.”  
Rose fiddled with the end of her sleeve. She’d practiced this story over and over again in h head, but each time she’d imagined telling people Scorpius had been there with her. Now she was alone, and very aware that these were the people most likely to realise the relationship was fake.  
“Well,” she began “you guys know I went to America this summer, and I missed you all so much, it turns out Scorpius missed me. A lot. And I missed him as well, more than I thought I would. Then when I got back Scorpius was kind of awkward around me.” She was gaining confidence now that this part had more truth to it, “One day I kind of cornered him to ask what was up, and he just asked me out right there. I said yes and we’ve been going out ever since.”  
Rose finished the story, and immediately searched her friend’s faces for their reactions. Scorpius had thought it best if they kept the story simple, it made it believable and easy to remember. Surprisingly Harry (yes he was named after her uncle) was the first to speak.  
“Huh. Took him long enough to ask you out.” He said plainly.  
“W-what?” Rose stuttered.  
“Well he’s always doing that angry stare at you, and it didn't take much to figure out it was because he liked you.” Harry said, looking confused as if that had been obvious to everyone. Rose blinked trying to mask her surprise at his words. Scorpius didn't stare at her. At least she didn't think so. She opened her mouth, unsure of what to say, when Morag filled the awkward silence.  
“Ok so now that we’ve garnered Scorpius has finally acted on long term feelings can I ask again why I'm only just hearing about things?” There were noises of agreement from the others.  
“I guess we wanted to keep it private for a while, and really we only just started dating so we didn't want to jinx it.” Rose told them, proud of her own excuse.  
The others seemed satisfied with this and, although Morag sent her a look saying she would ask more later, they seemed finished with their questions.  
Rose was happy with this, pleased with how the first revealing had gone. Morag and Harry were her closest friends and Alice and Phoebe were Scorpius’, so that having gone without a hitch was something to marvel at. She had just settled back down into her book when she felt the train slow down signalling the end of their journey. 

~

Scorpius was confused. Ever since he and Al had caught up with Phoebe and Alice the girls had been sending him looks. The kind of looks that said “I know something you probably don't want me to know”. It didn't occur to him till halfway through the Welcome Back feast, after noticing the obvious stares the girls were throwing at Rose, that Rose may have gone completely insane and told them about their ‘relationship’ without him. He desperately wanted to ask them what they knew, but with Tyler, Al and Zachariah there it really wasn't the time to question them. Instead he took to sending slightly angry glances at Rose who appeared to be ignoring him. Great.  
Later when everyone was filing out of the Great Hall Scorpius grabbed Rose and pulled her into an empty broom closet as subtly as possible. Actually, thinking about it, he could have been a lot more subtle.  
Rose let herself be pulled into the closet before raising her eyebrow.  
“A broom closet, really Scorpius?” She shook her head, “ I mean I know we’re trying to be obvious but this is just too cliché.”  
Scorpius snorted, “At least I'm not the one telling everyone about ‘us’” He gestured between them with a dismissive hand. Rose at least bad the good grace to look guilty.  
“ I know I'm sorry it just came out, but hey at least our friends know.” She rushed out.  
“Yeah great, because this is exactly how I planned on my friends finding out.” Scorpius said sarcastically.  
“Well at least Al already know, that's going to make it a bit easier when they question you later, right?” Rose half questioned him. When she noticed the slightly pained look on Scorpius’ face she balked, “Al does know, Scorpius. Right? Right?”  
Scorpius grimaced.  
“ I was going to tell him, but so much stuff got in the way and-” he started.  
“Scorpius! Are you telling me that my cousin is right now upstairs with two girls, who enjoy to gossip, that are aware we are ‘dating’.” She was pacing now, which was pretty impressive in the one metre squared broom closet. Scorpius gulped.  
“I hadn't thought about that.” He said quietly.  
Rose turned to him, and when she noticed the complete look of terror on his face stopped pacing. Her expression softened to only mild anger.  
“Look I'm sure it'll be fine. They might not have told him yet, or they might think he already knows and not mention it.” She said.  
Despite her reassurances Scorpius still took the stares to the Gryffindor tower as fast as he could.

~

Albus was fuming. His best friend and his freaking cousin. Dating. Without telling him. He let out an annoyed groan causing his roommate Lorcan to raise his eyebrows.  
“You alright mate?” He asked seeming unsure as to if he actually wanted the answer.  
“I'm fine.” Albus replied, although the fists at his side said otherwise.  
Albus continued to pace along their dorm room until he remembered that was what Rose did when she was mad. He stopped pacing. He had to find out that his two closest friends were going out from someone else. Although Alice was was of Scorp’s closest friends Albus had still thought he would have been the one Scorpius would have told first, and Rose, she should have told him before even agreeing to go out with Scorp. He glared at the wall opposite him.  
“Okay, well you say your good, but if you want to talk…” Lorcan trailed off.  
He wasn’t particularly close to Lorcan, despite their parents being good friends, so although it was a nice offer Albus was a bit confused by it.  
“Thanks, but I'm-” he stopped himself from saying fine. “Thanks for the offer, but I won't take you up on it.”  
“S’ok. The offer applies to anytime, if you just need someone to talk to. I know you've got Scorp and all your family, but sometimes it's nice to have someone else.” Lorcan shrugged, and Albus found himself staring at him slightly.  
“Um, thank you, you can talk to me as well. Um, if you need to that is.” Albus found himself saying. When Lorcan smiled in response he knew he'd said the right thing. They settled into comfortable silence, Lorcan finishing his unpacking and Albus splitting his time between subtly stealing glances at the blond boy and thinking about what he was going to say to another much blonder boy.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry idek what this is, and why the hell it gets so dramatic at the end. Promise that one we get past the intro bit it'll get much more interesting.

Scorpius trudged up the stairs to the Gryffindor boy’s dorm with a sense of impending doom. He'd ran into Phoebe and Alice in the common room and they'd faked shock at how he'd not managed to tell his best friend about his new relationship yet. They'd then skipped off back to their game of wizard chess, seemingly happy enough with the trouble they'd caused to bother him with questions about Rose.  
When he reached the top of the stair he took a deep breath before pushing the door open. Albus sat on his bed, fists curled at his sides, and was staring at their roommate Lorcan Scamander. It was the staring that gave Scorpius a split second before Albus jumped up and was across the room before Scorpius could blink.  
“What the hell do you think you're doing messing with my cousin?” Albus shouted pushing Scorpius into the wall behind him. “And without telling me! What are you playing at?”   
Scorpius immediately put his hands up in surrender.  
“I swear I haven't done anything to her, and I was going to tell you Al, but I knew you'd react like this.” Scorpius garbled before Albus could interrupt him.  
Albus was now glaring at Scorpius, but at least he wasn't causing him physical harm. Lorcan was still standing next to his bed looking unsure as to if he should leave.  
“So it's true then?” Albus finally asked taking a breath, “ You and Rose are dating?”  
Scorpius shook his head quickly.  
“No, no, we’re not actually dating.” At Al’s confused look he quickly hurried on, “ Rose asked me to help her change herself a bit, and I suggested maybe dating someone , and she suggested that someone be me, but not actually dating fake dating. Now we’re fake dating, but only you and I guess Lorcan know it’s fake and we'd like to keep it that way”  
Albus seemed possibly more confused than before, but have relaxed his posture and was no longer clenching his fists. Scorpius relaxed a bit.  
“You and Rose aren't actually dating then, you're just pretending to date, so that Rose can change herself.” Albus seemed to be trying to explain it to himself more than anyone else, but Scorpius nodded anyway. Albus had turned away now running his hands through his hair. Scorpius and Lorcan shared a look, wary of what Albus would do next.When Albus finally turned all signs of his anger were gone.  
“This isn't some creepy way to, you know, actually date her is it?” he asked, scrunching up his face at the thought.  
“No! No, I swear its completely innocent. To be honest I'm not really sure why I'm doing it, Rose just kept talking and all of a sudden i was agreeing-”   
“She does that to you as well! I thought it was just me” Albus interrupted, “God every time I think I've got this argument , and then next thing I know I'm agreeing to go to some museum in London.”  
Scorpius was smiling now, this was just like Al. One moment he’d be raring to go ready to take on the world and then he’d be distracted by some tiny thing and go off on a tangent.  
“Yeah I’ve started to notice her doing it. Its pretty impressive.” He replied. Albus looked at him once he spoke, seeming to have forgotten he was there.  
“Right, um,” he started using his gruffest voice, “this may be a fake relationship, but if you hurt Rose or her reputation or anything I’ll kill you, well I’ll probably have to get James to help because lets be honest I couldn't take you. Anyway the point is, well I’m not entirely sure, but don't be a dick Scorpius, okay? Just be nice to her and no one gets hurt.”  
Scorpius grinned at him, and eventually Al grinned back. He knew that Al had been practicing that speech for when Lilly inevitably started dating. No one had the heart to tell Al that she’d had three boyfriends already.   
“I promise, I’m not going to hurt Rose. Not that I could if I tried, but I wont try. I like Rose and maybe this’ll be a good opportunity for us all to spend some time together.” At this the two boys remembered Lorcan, who had sat on his bed seeming to be trying his best not to listen in.  
“Um, Lorcan?” Scorpius caught his attention, “This probably goes without saying, but you wont spread this round school right? Keep it between us lot.”  
“Yeah yeah of course.” Lorcan was nodding a bit too vigorously, but Scorpius thought that probably had something to do with the awkwardness of the situation.   
“Great, thanks mate.” Scorpius turned back to Albus who was still looking at Lorcan with an expression of interest. “So Al, the plan was to just keep it simple between me and Rose for now. You know, just hang out a bit more maybe be seen holding hands.”   
Al snapped out of his intense staring session and looked at Scorpius.  
“Yeah, that sounds good. Just let me know when you guys escalate things a bit. I’ll need a bit of warning” Al replied still seeming deep in though. Scorpius nodded back before making his way to his bed to start unpacking before Tyler and Zach came upstairs and the peace was disturbed

§

After the mandatory brief catch up with her roommates Rose fell quickly to sleep, her worries of not having unpacked their NEWT workload and the whole Scorpius situation slipping away. When she woke up the next day her only recollection of dreaming was one of her and a cute blonde puppy going for a walk. As she slowly woke up and worked her way through her normal morning routine she felt a spark of excitement. Today was the first official day of project make-Rose-a-Slytherin, and despite the terrible name she was looking forward to it. She’d already made a few subtle changes, wearing her hair in a sleek ponytail (thank God for anti-frizz charms) instead of her usual messy bun, wearing a cardigan instead of her jumper (“to proudly display her house tie” in the words of Scorpius) and she’d allowed herself a tiny bit of makeup for confidence.  
Now for the big step; her and Scorpius’ debut as a couple. Not that many people were aware of that, but to her it felt like a big deal. As she walked down towards the Great Hall she bypassed the trail of Ravenclaws and headed to the loud group of Gryffindors she knew Scorpius and Al were with, and there they were. Throwing their heads back laughing at some probably stupid joke, it wasn't hard to tell why they were the Golden Boys of Hogwarts. They had some kind of magnetism, they just seemed confident and cool and well fun.   
Taking a deep breath Rose took the final few steps towards the group. Her and Scorpius’ eyes met as soon as she stepped into his line of sight. He smiled and tilted his head telling her silently to come join them. Last year she would've probably been at first lesson already talking to the professor, but now, despite the eyes already on her, Rose stepped up into the limelight.


End file.
